Never Alone
by Bookdancer
Summary: When Thalia - 15 - went to meet up with her 14 year old cousin Percy, she didn't expect to find him crying behind his school's storage shed. She definitely didn't expect it to be because of bullying. One-Shot.


**Okay, so I came up with what I believed to be a fantastic idea during school. I know bullying fics have been done before, but I've never found one where Percy was the one being bullied, and I love it when Thalia or Nico acts like the big sister or brother to Percy, because, technically, they are the ones older than Percy. They were born first! Sorry, it's one of my pet peeves. Anyway, I decided to go with Thalia. Mainly because there's this little time period when she's still mentally and physically older than Percy and she actually cares about him. And so this was born! :D**

**I do not own Percy Jackson.**

Never Alone

Thalia snuck through a hole in the chain-link fence surrounding Percy's school. She glanced around, wrinkling her nose. As if the chain-link fence wasn't enough, the field was mostly dirt and stones with little patches of dry grass, and the school building was made of brick. All in all, the school was disgusting.

She looked around again, frowning. Her cousin had said he'd meet her here at two, but it was already two thirty. Even Percy wouldn't be this late. No demigod was, simply because they didn't want to make their friends worry. So that meant one thing- Percy was in trouble.

The daughter of Zeus set off at a brisk pace, wanting to find Percy quickly but not draw attention to herself. She wasn't supposed to be here, after all, and she couldn't help Percy if she got caught.

_Then again_, Thalia mused, her blue eyes lighting up. _I could always use the mist._

She grinned, breaking into a slow run so she could look around more. Right as she was about to pass to pass a shed, she heard crying. Thalia groaned, her curious (and protective) side breaking out, forcing her to see who was crying. Percy could hold his own against any monster, she knew that.

Thalia peeked around the shed, her heart speeding up. In front of her, squeezed into the narrow space and curled into a ball on the ground, was exactly who she had been looking for. Percy.

"Percy?" She asked gently, squeezing in next to her younger cousin. His breaths came in gasps as he cried, his breath hitching as he realized someone had found him. Percy looked up, and Thalia's heart lurched as she looked at his tearstained face. His sea green eyes were bloodshot with tears, and a bruise was blooming on his left cheek. His lip was split, too, and Thalia noticed he was cradling his right arm to his chest. His clothes were dirty, too, as if he'd rolled around in the dirt.

"Thalia?" He croaked. "What're you doing here?"

"We had a meeting, remember? To catch up? We agreed a month ago."

"Oh." Percy mumbled. "Sorry, I forgot."

Then Percy started moving, attempting to stand so he could get out. Thalia moved with him, grabbing his uninjured arm and pulling him up with her.

"Percy?" Thalia asked as she helped him out from behind the shed, helping him limp to the street. "What happened?"

Percy stared at his feet, avoiding Thalia's gaze. "I'll tell you later. Where are we going?"

Thalia frowned but went with it, waving down a taxi. "Your place." She replied. She got into the taxi after helping Percy in, telling the driver, "East One-hundred-and-fourth and First."*

Thalia glanced at the smaller demigod, watching as he curled into himself and stared outside, watching the building go by.

When they reached Percy's apartment building, Thalia tossed their driver a ten and then helped Percy into the elevator.

Is your mom home?" Thalia asked. Percy glanced at her and then shook his head. Thalia could have sworn she saw a glimmer of relief in his eyes. They exited the elevator and then walked the short distance to the Jackson's apartment. Percy dug out his key and fumbled with it, causing Thalia to take it from him before she unlocked the door. She led him inside, flicking on the lights.

"Where do you want to go?" Thalia questioned.

Percy was silent for a second before he responded, "My room."

"Do you have any ambrosia?" Thalia asked suddenly, cursing herself for not remembering earlier.

"Fridge." Percy muttered.

Thalia sighed with relief. Percy wasn't exactly known for being prepared. Then again, it was probably Mrs. Jackson who asked Chiron to send Percy home with ambrosia. Thalia eyed Percy scrutinizingly.

"You think you can make it to your bed?" Thalia asked. She knew it was only about fifteen feet away, but she didn't know how badly injured Percy was. Still, Percy nodded, and Thalia gently extracted herself from her cousin's arm. She searched the fridge as quickly as she could. The girl found a small bag of ambrosia squares in the back of the fridge, behind a platter of blue chocolate chip cookies. Thalia eyed said cookies before grabbing them and the ambrosia. Maybe the treat would help cheer Percy up.

When she entered Percy's room, Thalia found the younger teen sitting on his bed, back braced against the wall. His linked arms encircled his knees, keeping them against his chest. His chin rested against his knees, and Thalia thought it must be a painful position what with his injuries, but Percy stubbornly held it.

Thalia sat the cookies and ambrosia down on the bed side table, reaching out to undo Percy's position. The demigod kept his gaze on his feet, but allowed the other demigod to reposition him. She handed him an ambrosia square and a cookie, and Percy stared at them for a minute before beginning to nibble on the ambrosia. Thalia seated herself beside him before she began.

"What happened?" She asked, repeating her earlier question. This time, though, Percy responded.

"It was Clark."

"What do you mean?" Thalia responded curiously.

"He-he's been teasing me." Percy glanced at his cousin to see her reaction, but she gave none. "At... at first it was just name calling, picking on me cause I'm small and I don't have a girlfriend." This time Thalia tried to respond, but Percy plowed on. "Then it started getting worse. Not much, but... he and his friends would push me into lockers in the hallway... once they even shut me in and locked it. I only got out of that one cause a teacher was watching. Anyway, it kept on getting worse. I started sneaking ambrosia into school with me so I could take care of any bruises. But today..." Percy swallowed. "Today Mom was in the kitchen when I went in. Usually she wakes up later, but she had a meeting she had to go to early in the morning and she forgot to tell me." Percy looked miserable. "And today Clark and five of his friends cornered me after school..." Percy trailed off.

"And this happened." Thalia said, barely stopping herself from jumping up, finding this 'Clark', and pounding his face in.

"... yeah." Percy said.

Thalia didn't usually do hugs, let alone give them, but she supposed they're was a first time for everything. Percy looked at her, surprised at the outward sign of affection, and Thalia smiled at him.

"Just promise me something." Thalia told Percy.

"What?" Percy questioned.

Thalia stared at him seriously. "If something like this happens again, let me know. And know that you are never alone."

*** Okay, so I'm not sure if Percy and Mrs. Jackson moved after TLT or before TTC, so I put in the address Percy told the taxi driver in the beginning of TLT. Sorry if it's wrong.**

**Anyway, what did you guys think? Please review!**


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